Vertical Aerospace Opens New Valo Assembly Centre

By Jessica Fisher Editor

The new facility advances Vertical’s transition from prototype development toward aircraft manufacturing.

(Bristol, United Kingdom) Vertical Aerospace (NYSE: EVTL) announced today (Sept. 25) the opening of its new dedicated Aircraft Assembly Centre at its Flight Test Centre at Cotswold Airport (GBA).

Image of Vertical Aerospace’s new Aircraft Asssembly Centre at its Flight Test Centre at Cotswold Airport (GBA) courtesy of Vertical Aerospace.

The opening ceremony took place yesterday, September 24, on National Manufacturing Day in the UK.

Vertical’s new facility is designed to assemble more than 25 Valo aircraft annually during early production, and, per Vertical, marks the next stage in the Company’s transition from prototype development and flight testing towards certification and commercial production of its Valo electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft.

The new Centre is supported by a £1.5 million investment and adds 60,000 square feet of operational and aircraft assembly space to Vertical’s existing Cotswold Airport campus. Combined with the Company’s Flight Test Centre, Vertical now operates approximately 130,000 square feet at the airport across engineering, aircraft assembly, ground operations and flight-test activities, according to today’s press release from the company.

Vertical Aerospace is working with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) towards its target of achieving Type Certification in 2029, and assembly of the first certification-conforming aircraft is expected to begin in Q4 2027. The Centre will also be used to retrofit one of the Company’s prototype aircraft for hybrid-electric flight testing in the first half of 2027.

“Opening our Aircraft Assembly Centre is an important step in Vertical’s transition from prototype developer to aircraft manufacturer, and another milestone delivered as we advance Valo towards certification,” said Vertical Aerospace CEO Stuart Simpson. “This facility gives us the capability we need to assemble our certification aircraft and support initial customer deliveries, while maintaining capital discipline as we prepare for higher-volume production.”